Sport: Letting Go

The symptoms of withdrawal are classic and immediately recognizable to
some 60 million football addicts. First, an uncontrollable twitching of
the hand, which has no television knob to turn.
Next, an irrepressible urge to curse, usually at the two-minute
intervals during which, normally, passes would be dropped, quarterbacks
sacked, or egregiously erroneous calls made by officials.
Milder side effects include the opening of phantom beer cans and
hurriedly placed phone calls to bookies for a nonexistent point spread.
After a six-month diet of football, the American public must...